Mouse Extra

Is the Disney Cruise Line giving us a not-so-subtle hint about what it plans to do with the new ships launching in 2011 and 2012?  It does seem as though that may be a possibility.  According to the morning’s Orlando Sentinel, the Disney Cruise Line is sending 20 employees, including the company’s number two executive, to London to set up an operation there.

A company spokeswoman said that about 20 employees will be stationed in the United Kingdom office, though not all will be people transferred from Central Florida. The operation there will be led by Tom Wolber, Disney Cruise Line’s senior vice president and the company’s No. 2 executive.

Now 20 people may not seem to be much, but we are still over three years off the launch of the new vessels.  Right now there is little need for more than that.  But the conclusion we can draw is from Wolber’s inclusion in this transfer.  Why would someone that high up in the company be relocated to London if they did not plan to have major operations in Europe in the future?

Disney Cruise Line fans are patiently waiting for any hint of what to look forward to when these new ships take to the seas.  We here in America are wishing for cruises out of New York, Hawaii, or Alaska.  But the rest of the world is also open to the Mouse and this may be the first real evidence of where the future is leading the Disney Cruise Line.

The Disney Cruise Line debuted its latest musical show on Thursday when “Toy Story – The Musical” took to the stage aboard the Mouse’s newest ship, the Disney Wonder.  The Orlando Sentinel has the story and some great footage to watch as well.  Click here and watch the video.

The stage show has the blessing and the imprint of John Lasseter, director of the Toy Story films and now chief creative officer of Disney and Pixar Animation Studios as well as the principal creative adviser of Walt Disney Imagineering.

The result show is a full-blown Broadway-style affair with 18 actors (including beloved characters Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Hamm and Rex), giant projection screens, an appearance of the Claw and a rollicking finale.

I hope to hear reports from this show soon.  It certainly looks like a lot of fun.  Each time I have been onboard a Disney Cruise ship the same shows were offered.  The last time I only went to one because I just was not interested in seeing the others again.  Toy Story is one of my very favorite films and from this preview the musical certainly looks worthy of a try.  It will be nice to see something new.

But I know my own tastes and that makes me a bit cautious.  I honestly could not tolerate “Finding Nemo – The Musical” at the Animal Kingdom, and that earned rave reviews when it opened.  It just was not for me.  Hopefully this will be more to my liking.

Late last week, Screamscape did a quick rumor that gave us possible names for the new Disney Cruise Line ships coming in 2011 and 2012.  This week that rumor is picking up steam on the internet. M Here was what the original posting had to say…

According to a Screamscape reader the local news did a quick story on a new or expanded Disney Cruise Line terminal building and in the artwork they claim you could see the names for the two new ships, “Disney Dream” and “Disney Celebration”. Anyone else catch this or happen to find an image capture of the artwork? I can’t seem to find anything about it right now.

I have not caught this, nor have I seen any verification from another source that this broadcast happened or any other form of confirmation about these names.  In fact, the only outlets I have seen go with this rumor are using the original Screamscape information as the only source.   For that reason, I wouldn’t put too much stock in this just yet.  I’ll let you know if I can find some additional sourcing on this.

But these names do make sense and seem to fit the mold.  Due to the overuse of the word “dreams” in any all aspects of Disney marketing, that is an easy guess to make.  “Celebration” also works, but at a somewhat lesser degree.  However Carnival already has a ship named the Celebration and that should be a good enough reason to come up with something else. 

What do you think of these names?  Any suggestions?

This morning’s Orlando Sentinel has a rather in-depth report about a new Broadway style musical coming to the Disney Wonder this spring.  It will be called “Toy Story-The Musical” and the Sentinel has a great accompanying video that shows some of an early rehearsal.

Toy Story — The Musical will debut in April aboard the Disney Wonder cruise ship. It’s the latest entry in Disney’s expansive live-theater network that launched in 1993 with the purchase of a Broadway theater and has grown to include full-blown, movie-based Broadway musicals such as The Lion King, Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast.

I think a new show is overdue aboard the ships and this will be a welcome change for the repeat cruisers.  Toy Story is a wildly popular and it is amazing to see how often it is still used and how well it gets received all these years later.

Yes, Pixar is invading the Cruise Line as well.  It is interesting to note that John Lasseter, who has been involved with the development of this project from early on, was not all that excited about the idea when he first heard it.  To be honest, neither am I.  But Lasseter the idea grew on him and maybe it will grow on me as well.  I am one of the few who did not care for the Finding Nemo musical at the Animal Kingdom, so I won’t get my hopes up.  (I and what I think are cheesy musicals just don’t go well together!)

LaughingPlace.com has a story regarding new itineraries coming in 2008 to the Disney Cruise Line.  The Eastern Caribbean cruise will replace St. Maarten with either Tortola or St. Croix for only a select amount of trips.  But what is even more exciting is that from mid-May to late-August the Four-Night Bahamian Cruise will add a second stop at Disney’s own Castaway Cay.

The Four-Night Cruise once featured a stop at, I believe, Freeport in the Bahamas.  I was told by a crew member that guest feedback told them they would prefer have a day at sea to enjoy the boat, so that is why it changed to the most recent itinerary.  For these 16 voyages that day at seas will be replaced with a visit to Castaway Cay.

This brings up an interesting question.  Anyone who knows the Disney Cruise Line will tell you that Castaway Cay is enormously popular.  Am I supposed to believe the majority of guest feedback said for all these years that they would rather have a day at sea than at Disney’s lush private island?  Now I can only assume bringing guests to the island is more expensive than leaving them on the ship and the cost of these cruises is higher, but will the popularity of these new cruises change Disney’s thinking?  Will this be a preview of a permanent change to the four-night cruises?  I hope so.

I need to point you all today towards an absolutely terrific article found on DVCNews.com.  It is a follow-up to yesterday’s announcement from Disney about building a resort in Hawaii and it speculates on the scope of the project and how it may include the Disney Cruise Line as well.

Could this new arrangement between Disney and Ko Olina result finally give both parties what they have long sought-after?  On the surface, the project combines many elements of Ko Olina’s desire for cruise ship traffic with Disney’s vision for an expanded cruise line and regional entertainment centers.  The framework is already in place for a Castaway Cay-type, beachfront facility catering to hotel guests, Disney Vacation Club members and even Disney Cruise Line day guests.  

Could this prove to be the 21st Century version of Port Disney?

The article makes so much sense that I will now be more surprised if Disney does NOT build a cruise dock at this location than if they do.  All credit is due to DVCNews.com for posting this well researched story.  To be fair, many have been speculating that the Disney Cruise Line, with its two brand new ships, would be making Hawaii a destination, but this goes beyond that.  Disney was predictably short on details in their press release, but the brilliance of this story is the way it opens our eyes to what this new project might actual involve. 

The most popular destination among Disney Cruise Line guests is Castaway Cay.  Those who have not been there may not understand how great it really is.  The only problem is Disney can not use this property for anything beyond the cruises.  With this location in Hawaii, they can create an even more amazing cruise destination, and take it beyond the constraints of Castaway Cay.